Fireworks
by lostinreality303
Summary: Leah finds herself imprinting on another wolf but things take a turn for the worse when he imprints on someone else.  Based off my one-shot Second Best.  Rated M for profanity and possible future lemons.
1. Forgiveness?

AN: This is the story based off of my one-shot Second Best. The setting is near the end of Eclipse and all of the main things from Breaking Dawn still happened I have just changed a few of the relationship dynamics. This story will continue on past Breaking Dawn as well. I plan to keep all the chapters about this length and I will be up dating regularly (actually Chapter 2 should be out later today).

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer and so therefore I do not own the Twilight franchise.

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**_Forgiveness?_**

She looked really happy standing at the stove slaving away to make food for a bunch of starving werewolves. I don't know why it surprised me; I guess that I just always thought she would be miserable. Of course she got Sam I don't know why she would be miserable, wait he's horrible in bed that could be a reason. Reminder to self: don't think about this later when in wolf form there would be a strong possibility of double patrols with Paul. Maybe to make myself feel better I had just always assumed that Emily would be miserable most of the time, hell she got the guy it was only justified she not be happy 85% of the time. I also have no clue why I am here first I have my own house with a kitchen, but of course I'm feeling a little too lazy right now to actually cook my starving ass some food. That explanation doesn't really explain why I'm here before anyone else though. We'll go with the idea that I wanted the chance at food before the behemoths that are my pack gets here. I imagine there is actually a race in progress to see who will get here first, well too late bitches I got here first. That thought made me chuckle causing Emily to look over at me with a bemused expression.

"Sorry just thinking how funny it's going to be when the rest of them realize the lost the first spot in line to a girl." I explained with a smile on my face.

"You should smile more Leah it really suits you." She told me with beaming smile on her face, maybe Sam got better at lasting longer than a few minutes because there's no way she would be that happy otherwise. Yeah I definitely shouldn't think about this conversation while I'm in wolf form.

"Well I haven't had much of a reason to smile." I knew I had fucked up when I saw her face fall into a frown. Now I know what can make Emily unhappy, me and my bitchy ways. "I'm not attacking you, I just…Well you know my dad, this wolf stuff and mom has been MIA for days at a time." Come to mention it I haven't seen mi madre in a few days now, she must be at Charlie's getting 'comfort'.

"Oh" she replied obviously not believing my explanation.

"Really Emily it doesn't bother me that much anymore. Now that I think about it the whole thing seems kind of petty and childish. You're happy and he's happy and I'm happy just knowing that you get to deal with his short problem in bed." Shit I did not mean to say that out loud; okay quickly where is all the emergency exits, it's time for me to bail and cook my own damn food. The next she did surprised the hell out of me. She laughed, she fucking laughed. I'm over here panicking that she going to hate me and tell me to never come back here again and she's fucking laughing.

"I know right, I was actually thinking about buying these pills I saw on an infomercial once but I was pretty sure his hyper-smelling would be able to tell that I had crushed them up and put them in his food." She told me, the smile back on her face.

"Yeah he could probably smell them." I said dumbly, it almost sounded like a question.

"Don't look so surprised Leah it's not always sunshine and rainbows over here in Camp Uley." I guess that answers my question on her perpetual happiness.

The opening of the front door quickly ended our little conversation. Twenty bucks says that Seth beats them all, he is related to me after all and I am the fastest. Jared comes into the kitchen all smiles until he sees me; I guess I am really that much of a bitch. There must have been some sort of play fight because there is no way Jared out ran everyone else, he's good but he's not that good. Slowly the rest of the pack trickles in, their happy mood dying at the sight of me.

"Damn guys I'm not that much of kill joy am I?"

"Yeah Leah you are, what the hell are you doing here anyway." I can always count on Paul to speak his mind no matter what.

"Well thank you for the honesty Paul and I'm here first so that I can get first dibs on the food." I told them sharing a smile with Emily. That last bit though them for a loop.

"No, that's not fair I finally beat them." Poor Jared, oh well I 'm not giving up my rightfully earned spot in line for deliciousness.

"Jared quit whining you're getting fed no matter what." I see that Jacob is the first to recover from my personality 180. Not long after the boys had joined the pow-wow in the kitchen was the food done. Now I know why I liked Em in the first place, she can cook really, really well.

After we were done devouring everything laid down on the table the guys head to the living room to play video games. Emily has a frown on her face and the only thing I can contribute to it is that she didn't get any of the food she just cooked.

"Sorry if you wanted some food, I can make you some if you want." I tell her getting up and begin looking through the cabinets.

"Why are you so nice to me?" I guess are earlier conversation wasn't completely over.

"You're family and its time that I stopped forgetting that." I tell her with a shrug and sit myself across from her at the table. She keeps looking down at the table and twisting around a napkin in her hands.

"You should hate me, but you're sitting here offering to cook me food and making fun of Sam with me." Great now she wants to get serious, lovely just what I needed right now. Not to mention everything I say the boys will be able to hear.

"Em…I just…I was never in love with Sam and I realize that now. I liked the idea of being in love and just assumed that that was where our relationship was going. I 'm not going to lie to you, I hated that you didn't come to talk to me when it happened. I hate that you two didn't have the decency to wait until me and Sam were broken up for at least a month before you started flaunting your relationship around town. Emily life's is too short for me to continue to hold a grudge against you or Sam for something that you both had no control over." By the end of my spiel she has finally looked up at me.

"I'm sorry I'm so sorry. There's nothing that I can say that will ever be able to justify the reason I did the things I did." Emily told to me with tears in her eyes.

"Stop Emily just stop, no many how many times you say sorry it doesn't change anything. Sorry's can't change the past and they don't make the present any better. I'm over it and its time that we put it behind us and move on with our lives." Hopefully this can end this conversation because I sure as hell don't want to continue it.

"You're right, you're right. Thank you though for forgiving me."

"I didn't say I forgive you I just understand the situation you were put into." Please let this conservation be over with or I am walking out of here.

"Oh, well that's okay. So I'm going to do the dishes you can go and hang out with the pack if you want to."

"I can help with the dishes, besides I wouldn't want to damage their pride by kicking their asses on those stupid video games." I yelled the last part so as to make sure that they heard it in the living room.

"Leah you're all talk and no action" Embry yelled from the living room.

"Taunting isn't going to make me want to come in there; I'm not ruled by testosterone unlike the rest of you guys." I received no answer after that. Me and Emily worked in peace for a while doing the dishes until she broke the silence.

"So do have any suggestions on dealing with Sam's problem." I snorted at that, it was almost like that entire conversation a minute ago never happened; which is the way I preferred it to be.

"Not really but I definitely think you should try the pill thing anyway maybe he'll be too hungry to worry about if the food smells a little different." We did the rest of the dishes talking about inconsequential things and catching up on each other's lives.

"I'm telling you Emily she isn't going over to Charlie's just because of his gun collection."

"Leah! How can you say that and I highly doubt that she's moving on that quickly." Emily responded as we washed the last of the dishes.

"You know what's weird, I'm not even that bothered by it. I know that my mom loved my dad and she always will. I also know that she's been lonely lately with both Seth and me in the pack. I've met Chief Swan a few times and he seemed like a great guy, not to mention the few times I've seen her she seems really happy." I said with a small smile on my face, it was good to be able to talk about stuff with another girl.

"That's good. Won't it be awkward though; being a step sister to vampire girl, I mean Bella." Emily asked as we sat at the kitchen table so that we could finish our conversation before heading out to the living room.

"From what I figure she won't be around that much. I mean if she's going to stay in a relationship with the vamp then he will most likely turn her and we won't see much of her for a really long time."

"I never really thought about it that way."

"Yeah." I knew we wouldn't be able to get through this without the awkward moment.

"Leah I want to thank you for letting me in, even though I don't deserve it. I missed you and I'm really happy we got to connect again."

"Don't mention it, you've always been like a sister to me and Seth isn't much of a conversationalist. So are you ready to go join the stupidity in the living room." I asked her as I made my way toward the hallway that leads to the kitchen.

"That sounds like a good idea." She answered with a smile. Once we got into the living room I realized that Seth, Quil, and Embry were already gone. That meant that I got to walk home by myself, finally alone time.

"Where did Seth and the others go?" I heard Emily ask as I made my way to an empty chair in the corner.

"They left to go do something and Embry's house. Oh and Leah, Seth said not to expect him to be home until really late." Jared was the one to answer Emily's question.

The rest of the night was uneventful except for the weird looks I kept receiving from Sam all night. Most of the time he looked away when I caught him staring but sometimes he would just stare right at me like he was trying to say something with his eyes. Too bad for him I don't speak eyeanese. It was close to 11 when I decided to head home.

"Well you all are boring me so I am heading home I guess I will see you guys tomorrow at patrols." I got up off my chair and headed to the door when I heard Jacob speak up from behind me.


	2. Imprinting

Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer so therefore I do not own the Twilight Franchise.

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_**Imprinting**_

"_Well you all are boring me so I am heading home I guess I will see you guys tomorrow at patrols." I got up off my chair and headed to the door when I heard Jacob speak up from behind me._

"Hey I need to head on home too, I'll walk with you." Wonderful, a trip alone with Bella's pet dog just what I need to end my day. I can't really say anything though, for a while there I complained daily about how Sam was such a bastard and Emily was a complete bitch. Hopefully he'll be too swamped in his personal turmoil to ever want to include me into it. I had, had way too much seriousness for one day and I just wanted to get home so that I could a long hot shower and go to bed. Of course I didn't expect myself to cave so easily. We had made it about ¼ of a mile away from Sam's house when the silence got to be too much for me.

"So how is the Bella front going?" It's not like I really wanted to know but it was the first thing that came to my mind.

"Ummm….not really that good, she just doesn't see that I'm the better choice for her. I mean I could make her happy and she wouldn't need to change, she could stay human." He replied as he kicked a rock that had made its way into the middle of the road.

"You don't have to convince me, I much rather like the hot than the cold. Honestly I don't see why you're so hung up on her, nothing ever pleases her. Every time she comes down she's either complaining about the weather, Edward's protective streak, or that her father cares about her too much. Hell I've even heard her complaining that she got presents on her birthday, who the hell complains about getting free shit. Seriously Jacob I don't think you should even want to put up with her bitchy ass all the time." Great now I had gotten myself all worked up over Bella freaking Swan. After my ranting he was quiet for a while as we walked down the middle of the road toward my house. Hopefully his silence was him rethinking this whole Swan fascination he had.

"Leah you just don't understand my feelings and I don't expect you ever to be able to." He replied veering off toward First Beach, now I had made him upset.

"Right Jacob I could never understand how it feels to love someone who is in love with someone else, the emotion is just completely foreign to me. Damn Jacob we're more alike than you think and if you would just talk to me I might be able to help." I yelled toward his back as I followed him down toward the rocks at the edge of the water. A few seconds later I saw him stop and sit down a large boulder. After a couple of more seconds I reached that same boulder to see him staring out across the sea with a defeated look.

"Will it ever stop hurting?" He asked me while looking for his answer in the pitch dark.

"Not really." I told him. "For me I just realized that I was never really in love with Sam in the first place."

"How did you figure that out?" He looked so broken and defeated and I wasn't used to this kind of Jacob. Everyone knew Jake as the happy go lucky guy that always had a smile on his face no matter what. Well at least that was until Ms. Bella Swan came to town and turned him into Brooding Jacob.

"My heart didn't race when he stepped in the room. It sounds really simple but it's not. You know in those great love stories how the people in love can go on for pages and pages about their feelings, well my feelings for Sam didn't even cover half of one page."

"But...I saw you guys together all the time and you looked so happy." You could hear the confusion in his voice as he began to ponder a much simpler time.

"Happiness and love isn't the same thing Jake. Yeah I was happy but it was because I had someone. I remember walking around and seeing all these couples and thinking that, that is what I want. It's true, I loved Sam but I was only in love with the idea of him." I surprised I had said that because until this very moment I honestly had no clue as to why I was so happy with Sam in the first place. I need to remember to thank Jake for helping me figure some things out for myself as well.

"I don't understand how you can tell the difference between being in love with someone and just loving them." The wind had started to turn into a fast breeze as we sat on the beach, its times like this I actually really enjoy being abnormally hot.

"Fireworks." The only explanation I could up with at the time.

"Huh?" His face scrunched up in confusion but he continued to look out into the night sky.

"Fireworks. It's really simple Jacob. When I was with Sam or when I touched him or kissed him there were no fireworks. I think that when you're in love with someone every touch, every kiss, and every look should send your heart racing and set your skin on fire. It's not exactly like fireworks but it's the only word I can think to describe it." I told him while searching the darkness for answers as well.

"She kissed me you know, before that fight with the newborns. I wouldn't say it was fireworks exactly but I felt tingly and her being that close to me just felt right."

"Jake, that's called hormones." At the mention of this he cracks a small smile but it's gone just as quick as it came.

"No Leah I'm serious, me and her just feels right. I've always felt that we would end up together."

"Maybe you've wanted this for so long that you've deluded yourself into feeling something you don't really feel."

"That makes no damn since, how do you feel something that you don't really feel. I thought you said you could help, right now all you're doing is confusing me." He stood up from the boulder in huff, clenching his fists the entire time. I never thought I would see Jake lose control this easily and over something so nonviolent. He began to pace looking down into the sand; obviously the sky didn't give him to answers he wanted to hear.

"Calm down Jake. What I'm trying to say is that before Bella came to town you had never talked about her before but as soon as she gets here your ready to confess your undying love for her. You don't feel that way just after a feel weeks."I tried to talk softly so as to calm him so he would sit down again because his pacing was giving me a headache. I grabbed his hand and forced him to sit down. What was strange was when I touched his hand I actually felt his warmth. Usually if one wolf touches another you can't tell the difference in body temperature, but right now I could. It caused me to hold on to his hand a little longer than I should have, but he felt so warm and it was so rare that I got to feel something warmer than my own body. His awkward throat clearing brought me out of my daze and I snapped my hand back a lot quicker than was necessary.

"Sorry, you're just really hot." I whispered without really looking at him, I was already embarrassed enough. What the hell is this, I don't get embarrassed; next thing you know I'll want to frolic in a field of flowers.

"Damn Leah never thought I would hear those words come out of your mouth." He said with a chuckle.

"That's not what I meant and you know it…Its just I can actually feel that you have a warmer body temperature that's all." Of course what he didn't need to know was that he was indeed hot. He wasn't that little boy who would bug the hell out of me all the time; he had grown into a man. Even now looking at him I could definitely tell he was attractive, all the way from his raven lack hair, to his defined muscles and russet skin. Even his height is attractive, I've always like a guy who could tower over me. What am I talking about I'm not attracted to him, yes he's attractive but I'm not attracted to him.

"Leah you okay there" I must have zoned out for awhile.

"Yeah I'm fine, so are we done here I would really like to get home." I asked him while preparing to get up from the boulder.

"I guess. I just have one last question." He is just full of questions today, but I guess one question couldn't hurt anything.

"Shoot." I tell him.

"What was with you in the kitchen today?"

"I was wondering when you would get around to asking about that. I've decided to turn a new leaf and stop being so bitchy all the time." Hopefully this answer would cure his curiosity for the rest of the night.

"Okay. But why Emily, you've hated her ever since Sam imprinted on her." Apparently his curiosity will never be cured.

"I just decided to quit resenting Emily all of the time. It's not like she had a choice in who imprinted on her."

"So does this mean you no longer hate Sam?" Holy crap can't he just stop with all the questions for once.

"Hell no, he didn't have the balls to man up and tell me. I had to find them together on the couch in my house. I didn't forgive Emily and I probably never will but that doesn't mean that I can't understand the situation she was put into."

"You're lying, there's no way you of all people have this new found acceptance for imprinting." For once Jake looked my way but it was my turn to continue to look out across the ocean.

"Jake look into my eyes and you would be able to see that I'm not lying." I turned to him and my eyes met his for a split second. That split second was all it took for the planets to align and for fate to knock on my door. His brown eyes stared back at mine, they grabbed my heart and took it with them and I never wanted it back. I couldn't look away from his sparkling orbs and I didn't want to. My heart started to race and I could feel fire racing up and down my skin. The only thing that clued me into what was happening was the need to always be by him. I started to notice the steel cables attaching me to him. I had done it, the one thing I thought I would never be able to do and I did it. I imprinted, I found the one person who was 'made' for me. My thoughts about ending this night abruptly stopped and I wanted to stay in this moment forever.

"Leah, you're zoning out again. I guess you're right, you're not lying. It's getting late we should probably get home."

"Sure?" I was having trouble coming back to reality and I wasn't real sure exactly what he was telling me.

"You sure your okay, It's like you're not even here right now." He told me while getting off the boulder and waiting for me to join him for the walk to my house.

"Yeah. I mean yeah I'm fine, just really tired." I can't believe I imprinted on him, actually I can't believe I imprinted period.

I never thought that I would be one of the girls you always read about in teenage romance novels or see in sappy lifetime movies. Even walking home with him I wanted to close the distance between us and hold his hand. I wanted to put my arms around his middle and lean into him as we walked. I wanted him to kiss me on the forehead and tell me how beautiful he thought I was. I wanted to take him somewhere public and stake my claim on him so that no one would ever touch him again. I hated that imprinting forced me into this lovesick pile of goo, yet I loved the feelings I was getting just by being next to him.

The one thought that didn't cross my mind until I got home was that he didn't imprint back.

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AN: Thank you to all of those who have reviewed. Chapter 3 should be out before Friday. Reviewing is not mandatory for me to continue this story but it is greatly appreciated.

-Lostinreality


	3. Legends

"Mhmm" The sensations of his breath skirting over my skin was driving me insane. His hands dug into my skin keeping me underneath him, as if I would want to be anywhere else. My eyes close involuntarily as he begins to kiss and suckle on my neck teasing me with the promise of something more. Then everything picks up speed and breathing becomes unimportant. The tug on my shorts alerts me to our state of dress and how much we need to rectify that. As my shirt comes up our eyes connect and we both know this is what we want. We breathe each other's names just before our lips crash together. My teeth latch onto his bottom lip devouring it and his hands press harder into my sides hopefully leaving bruises. I pull on his hair trying to force him closer to me, something that at this point is impossible.

Pretty soon my under wear is wrapped around my leg, his shorts are on the floor and somehow I am lying on his shirt. His lips are creating a trail of fire down the middle of my body but I am too impatient for anything more tonight. I attach my lips back to his and flip us over on my small bed. The creak from both the frame and the floorboards concern me for only a moment but his lips distract me and all is forgotten. In mere minutes he has my eyes rolling back into my head and every muscle in my body contracting, but I know this night is nowhere near over yet.

I sit straight up in bed panting. 'Not again', this would be the fifth time in the last three days. Every time I even so much as close my eyes all I see are entwined bodies and all I feel is heat. I can't get him out of my head and part of me doesn't want to. He's making it extremely difficult to function and even harder to hide it from the pack. It doesn't help that he's been gone since that night on the beach. I can tell that he's close but I have no clue where exactly he is. Sam has forbidden anyone to go looking for him; he even went as far as using his alpha voice. There's a dull ache in my heart caused by the strain his distance from me has put on the cables. I wish he would come home so I would know he's safe, know that everything between us is fine, and mostly because I miss him. I stare off into space thinking about him, even when I'm on patrols, which leaves me stammering through a lame ass excuse about how I'm worried because Seth's worried. Eventually that excuse leads me into being a bitch about how Jake needs to come back because he's a much better alpha than Sam will ever be. What can I say; I love it when I have the opportunity to put down Sam.

Today I don't have any patrols so I plan to get to the bottom of this whole imprinting thing. I grab some clothing and head toward the bathroom down the hall happy to find that it was empty. After a nice hot shower, not really hot considering my constant body temperature is well over 100°. A delicious odor leads me down stairs and into the kitchen. My mother is actually home and cooking up a storm by the looks over it.

"Where's the army?" I ask her as I sit down at the kitchen island.

"No where I just thought you all might be hungry." I guess that's a good enough excuse.

"Hey mom if I wanted to read up on all the 'pack legends' where would I need to go to do that." I ask here while I steal a piece of sausage.

"I would try Old Quil's house, he is the oldest in the tribe and I imagine his has quite a few books that you wouldn't find in the library." Off to Quil's house I go then.

"So when is this feast going to be ready." I asked her while going in to steal another piece of sausage only to get my hand swatted away.

"A lot quicker if you would quit stealing the food." Touché, Mom, touché.

"Food, did I hear the word food?" Seth came bouncing in looking wide awake except for the bed head and crumpled clothing. Looks like Sam kept him out all night again; he was too tired to even change into pajamas.

"Yes now back up because I was here first." I be damned if he was going to get first dibs at the food I saw first.

"Leah! There is more than enough food here for both your brother and you." Obviously she hasn't seen our eating patterns yet or she's being delusional.

In the end she wasn't delusional; there was more than enough food for both Seth and me although I can't say the same for her. I left without saying a word my brother. My mom didn't say a word about my curiosity but my brother would hound me until he turned blue in the face. The walk over to Old Quil's seemed much longer than it really was. Honestly I could have just ran there but right now I just want things to slow down so that I can process it all. Old Quil didn't ask questions he just sat me down at the kitchen table, left the room, and then returned a little late with an old looking box filled to the brim with books.

The hours I spent pouring over the dusty books at Old Quil's house turned up nothing. Sure there was tales of the great Thunderbird who could carry a whale in its claws. Then there was Raven or as the book like to call him Bayaq. He seemed like an okay dude always helping humans but he had some downfalls as well. Apparently he was very lazy, greedy, arrogant, deceitful, and rude (sounds like a few people I know) and he got in trouble most of the time. Of course I also got to learn about Q'wati or as the English like to call him the Transformer. He was the guy that created our tribe and protected us by changing the environment and getting rid of the monsters that plagued our village. Wish we could have got the power to change the environment instead of just transforming into overgrown wolves. The one thing I didn't expect to read about was a child eating ogress. Dask'iya or "basket woman" was this cannibal ogres that captured children in her basket and carried them home to eat them. I could definitely see this legend being used to stop children from being bad. "You better clean your room or the basket woman is going to come and eat you."

I really thought that by coming here I would get some answers but I guess being the first female wolf there wouldn't be many legends pertaining to what is happening to me. I started to put all the books away when Old Quil calmly walked into the room.

"Any luck?" Looking into his eyes tells me that he already knows the answer to his question. He walks over and sits next to me at the kitchen table taking a calculating looks at the books strewn haphazardly across the table. "What exactly is it that you're looking for?"

"Knowledge I guess. The same rules that seem to apply to the boys don't seem to apply to me."

"I see, and what rules are you referring to exactly." My eyes retreat down to the table in an attempt to not give away everything.

"Imprinting" I whisper as my eyes followed the grain lines on the wooden table.

"Leah do you know why we imprint?"

"Not really." I tell him honestly.

"Members of wolf packs imprint to ensure the carrying on of the gene that allows us to transform. When Quil imprinted on Claire it was because together they will make strong offspring that is of course when Claire gets old enough."

"So does that mean that I won't ever imprint on anyone" What a stupid question Leah of course you will, you already have.

"Why would you think that?" Shit, how do I explain this?

"Umm…I…well…..you see…." I began to stutter, my face flushing an embarrassing shade of red.

"I understand. Your body doesn't function like it did before the transformation."

"Exactly, so does that mean that I won't ever imprint."

"Based on what we know, it doesn't make logical sense for you to imprint." Jacob would never imprint back on me, because there was no way I would strengthen our gene pool. The thought stung a lot more than I thought it would. "Leah, have you imprinted on anyone?"

I look at him with quizzical eyes, wondering if he already knew everything. "Of course not, that's obviously impossible." I spat out while stacking the books so that I could get out of here.

"Leah," His tone of voice while soft demanded my attention. "Never give up hope, there is a reason for everything that happens." We didn't speak for the rest of the time that I was there.

It was dark by the time I stepped out of Old Quil's house and onto the lonely road home. The moon was full; when I first changed I half expected that I would change no matter what when the moon came out. Thinking back now; it all sounded so stupid, me worrying about the moon changing me.

The pain hit me hard, so hard that I collapsed. The invisible cables pulled and tugged at my heart forcing the air out of my lungs in the process. They urged me to go after him, to be near him, to stop the pain he was in. Jacob was leaving, and not just I'm going to go run over to Canada leaving, he was crossing several state barriers and at a high rate of speed.

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AN: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know it's been forever but I started back at college and things got hectic. In all honesty nothing I wrote felt right and on the weekends I would open up the document read what I had written and then just delete it. This update is a little on the short side but I hope to have another chapter up in a week. I won't go another month without at least letting you guys know that it will be awhile before a new chapter is up. I also have another story so for those who read that one as well, I am working on the new chapter and should have it up in just a few days. Again sorry about the wait.


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